Dynamic boundary based monitoring and metering

ABSTRACT

In an approach for providing a dynamic boundary based approach for monitoring and metering, a processor provisions at least one agent to one or more network accessible resources, wherein the at least one agent is configured to allow for monitoring and metering. A processor provides at least one dynamic boundary for monitoring and metering. A processor receives information captured by the at least one agent provisioned to the one or more network accessible resources based on the dynamic boundary for monitoring and metering. A processor causes the information to be available for use.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of applicationperformance management, and more particularly to a dynamic boundarybased approach for monitoring and metering.

In the fields of information technology (IT) and systems management,application performance management (APM) is the monitoring andmanagement of performance and availability of software applications. APMstrives to detect and diagnose application performance problems tomaintain an expected level of service. APM is the translation ofinformation technology metrics into business meaning (i.e., value).

Software metering refers to several areas. First, software meteringtracks and maintains software licenses. One needs to make sure that onlythe allowed number of licenses are in use, and, at the same time, thatthere are enough licenses for each use. The tracking can includemonitoring of concurrent usage of software for real-time enforcement oflicense limits. Such license monitoring usually includes when a licenseneeds to be updated due to version changes or when upgrades or rebatesare possible. Second, software metering may include real-time monitoringof all (or selected) applications running on a computer or computers inorder to detect unregistered or unlicensed software and prevent itsexecution, or limit its execution to within certain hours. The systemsadministrator can configure the software metering agent on each computerin the organization, for example, to prohibit the execution of gamingsoftware, for example, between the hours of 9 A.M. and 5 P.M. Third,software metering may include fixed planning to allocate software usageto computers according to the policies an organization specifies and tomaintain a record of usage and attempted usage. An organization cancheck out and check in licenses for mobile users and can also keep arecord of all licenses in use. Fixed planning is often used when limitedlicense counts are available to avoid violating strict license controls.Finally, software metering may include a method of software licensingwhere the licensed software automatically records how many times, or forhow long, one or more functions in the software are used, and the userpays fees based on the actual usage (also known as pay-per-use).

One of the main functions of most software metering programs is to keeptrack of the software usage statistics within an organization. Softwaremetering assists the IT departments in keeping track of licensedsoftware, which is often from multiple software vendors. Desktop ornetwork based software metering packages can provide an inventory ofsoftware, give details of all the software installed in the network withthe total number of copies with the usage details of each software, andeven track metrics of software use, such as: how often the software isused by a particular department, the peak times the software is beingutilized, and what add-ons are being utilized with the software. Thepossible savings on the cost of renewing the licenses of rarely usedprograms can be well worth the cost of the software.

SUMMARY

Aspects of an embodiment of the present invention disclose a method,computer program product, and computing system for providing a dynamicboundary based approach for monitoring and metering. A processorprovisions at least one agent to one or more network accessibleresources, wherein the at least one agent is configured to allow formonitoring and metering. A processor provides at least one dynamicboundary for monitoring and metering. A processor receives informationcaptured by the at least one agent provisioned to the one or morenetwork accessible resources based on the dynamic boundary formonitoring and metering. A processor causes the information to beavailable for use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a cloud computing node according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 depicts a cloud computing environment according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 3 depicts abstraction model layers according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 4 depicts a block diagram of a computing system according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 depicts a flowchart of the steps of a dynamic monitoring program,executing within the computing system of FIG. 4, for providing a dynamicboundary based approach for monitoring and metering of cloud resources.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the current state of monitoring network elements and devices, theredoes not exist anything suitable for cloud-based environments. Twoapproaches used are tier-based and event-based. Tiered approach formonitoring is “bottom up.” Bottom up means exposed data is collected byan agent that resides in the bottom layer and a manager polls orreceives the data through traps from the agents, normally realizedthrough open interfaces. On the other hand, event-based monitoringsolutions perform monitoring by capturing the generated events basedupon the configurations. Event-based monitoring is bottom up as well,but the implementation is complex—as the arbitrary events have to becaptured and processed. Both of the above approaches have limitationsand are unsuitable for cloud-based environments.

Cloud-based monitoring is based upon a dynamic resource model, whichmeans the resources get augmented or shrunk based upon the need of theperson(s) using the resources, thus monitoring components are requiredto be dynamic. Cloud-based billing requires various types of statisticsto be launched and implemented effectively. Cloud-based environmentsrequire management based upon the user level granularity per tenant viewof the elements; for example, the number of transactions which failedwhen the infrastructure or software was used by a particular user of thetenant. Cloud management software performs provisioning requests formonitoring at the logical partition (LPAR) level; however, themonitoring enabled through the software for virtual environments isSNMP-MIB II based, which is static and does not collect statistics atthe user level for the tenant for combined usage both for monitoring andbilling based upon the usage and other policies. An LPAR is a subset ofcomputer's hardware resources, virtualized as a separate computer. Ineffect, a physical machine can be partitioned into multiple LPARs, eachhosting a separate operating system. SNMP is short for Simple NetworkManagement Protocol, which is an Internet-standard protocol for managingdevices on Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Examples of devices thattypically support SNMP include: routers; switches; servers;workstations; printers; and modem racks. SNMP is used mostly in networkmanagement systems to monitor network-attached devices for conditionsthat warrant administrative attention. MIB-II defines the second versionof the Management Information Base for use with network managementprotocols in TCP/IP-based internets, such as SNMP. An MIB is a databaseused for managing the entities in a communications network.

Overall, monitoring and metering at various levels of hierarchy, i.e.,resource statistics as a whole, resources statistics as a logicalpartition, resource statistics at tenant level, and resource statisticsat user level, is not available through the current approaches.

Embodiments of the present invention recognize that a solution to theproblem of finding a suitable approach to monitor and meter networkelements and devices in a cloud-based environment is to enable robustmonitoring of cloud-based environments by creating boundary awaremetering following a top-down approach. The boundary-aware meteringfollowing a top-down approach will be explained in detail whendiscussing the Figures below.

It is understood in advance that although this disclosure includes adetailed description on cloud computing, implementation of the teachingsrecited herein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather,embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented inconjunction with any other type of computing environment now known orlater developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics, at least three service models, and atleast four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provisioncomputing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, asneeded automatically without requiring human interaction with theservice's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to servemultiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according todemand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumergenerally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of theprovided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out andrapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilitiesavailable for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can bepurchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level ofabstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage,processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can bemonitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both theprovider and consumer of the utilized service.

Service Models are as follows:

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure.The applications are accessible from various client devices through athin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based e-mail).The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloudinfrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage,or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exceptionof limited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquiredapplications created using programming languages and tools supported bythe provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, orstorage, but has control over the deployed applications and possiblyapplication hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows:

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for anorganization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party andmay exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by severalorganizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns(e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and complianceconsiderations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third partyand may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the generalpublic or a large industry group and is owned by an organization sellingcloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or moreclouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities butare bound together by standardized or proprietary technology thatenables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting forload-balancing between clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising anetwork of interconnected nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a schematic of an example of a cloud computingnode is shown. Cloud computing node 10 is only one example of a suitablecloud computing node and is not intended to suggest any limitation as tothe scope of use or functionality of embodiments of the inventiondescribed herein. Regardless, cloud computing node 10 is capable ofbeing implemented and/or performing any of the functionality set forthhereinabove.

In cloud computing node 10 there is a server 12, which is operationalwith numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing systemenvironments or configurations. Examples of well-known computingsystems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable foruse with server 12 include, but are not limited to, personal computersystems, server computer systems, thin clients, thick clients, hand-heldor laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems,set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs,minicomputer systems, mainframe computer systems, and distributed cloudcomputing environments that include any of the above systems or devices,and the like.

Server 12 may be described in the general context of computersystem-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executedby a computer system. Generally, program modules may include routines,programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, and so on thatperform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types.Server 12 may be practiced in distributed cloud computing environmentswhere tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linkedthrough a communications network. In a distributed cloud computingenvironment, program modules may be located in both local and remotecomputer system storage media including memory storage devices.

As shown in FIG. 1, server 12 in cloud computing node 10 is shown in theform of a general-purpose computing device. The components of server 12may include, but are not limited to, one or more processors orprocessing units 16, a system memory 28, and a bus 18 that couplesvarious system components including system memory 28 to processor 16.

Bus 18 represents one or more of any of several types of bus structures,including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, anaccelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of avariety of bus architectures. By way of example, and not limitation,such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus,Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, VideoElectronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and PeripheralComponent Interconnect (PCI) bus.

Server 12 typically includes a variety of computer system readablemedia. Such media may be any available media that is accessible byserver 12, and it includes both volatile and non-volatile media,removable and non-removable media.

System memory 28 can include computer system readable media in the formof volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 30 and/or cachememory 32. Server 12 may further include other removable/non-removable,volatile/non-volatile computer system storage media. By way of exampleonly, storage system 34 can be provided for reading from and writing toa non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media (not shown and typicallycalled a “hard drive”). Although not shown, a magnetic disk drive forreading from and writing to a removable, non-volatile magnetic disk(e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical disk drive for reading from orwriting to a removable, non-volatile optical disk such as a CD-ROM,DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided. In such instances, eachcan be connected to bus 18 by one or more data media interfaces. As willbe further depicted and described below, memory 28 may include at leastone program product having a set (e.g., at least one) of program modulesthat are configured to carry out the functions of embodiments of theinvention.

Program/utility 40, having a set (at least one) of program modules 42,may be stored in memory 28 by way of example, and not limitation, aswell as an operating system, one or more application programs, otherprogram modules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one ormore application programs, other program modules, and program data orsome combination thereof, may include an implementation of a networkingenvironment. Program modules 42 generally carry out the functions and/ormethodologies of embodiments of the invention as described herein.

Server 12 may also communicate with one or more external devices 14 suchas a keyboard, a pointing device, a display 24, etc.; one or moredevices that enable a user to interact with server 12; and/or anydevices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.) that enable server 12 tocommunicate with one or more other computing devices. Such communicationcan occur via Input/Output (I/O) interfaces 22. Still yet, server 12 cancommunicate with one or more networks such as a local area network(LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g.,the Internet) via network adapter 20. As depicted, network adapter 20communicates with the other components of server 12 via bus 18. Itshould be understood that although not shown, other hardware and/orsoftware components could be used in conjunction with server 12.Examples, include, but are not limited to: microcode, device drivers,redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems,tape drives, and data archival storage systems, etc.

Referring now to FIG. 2, illustrative cloud computing environment 50 isdepicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 50 comprises one or morecloud computing nodes 10 with which local computing devices used bycloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant (PDA)or cellular telephone 54A, desktop computer 54B, laptop computer 54C,and/or automobile computer system 54N may communicate. Nodes 10 maycommunicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown) physicallyor virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private, Community,Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or a combinationthereof. This allows cloud computing environment 50 to offerinfrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which a cloudconsumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computingdevice. It is understood that the types of computing devices 54A-N shownin FIG. 2 are intended to be illustrative only and that computing nodes10 and cloud computing environment 50 can communicate with any type ofcomputerized device over any type of network and/or network addressableconnection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 3, a set of functional abstraction layers providedby cloud computing environment 50 (FIG. 2) is shown. It should beunderstood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shownin FIG. 3 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments of theinvention are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layers andcorresponding functions are provided:

Hardware and software layer 60 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include mainframes; RISC(Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers; storagedevices; networks; and networking components. In some embodiments,software components include network application server software.

Virtualization layer 62 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers;virtual storage; virtual networks, including virtual private networks;virtual applications and operating systems; and virtual clients.

In one example, management layer 64 may provide the functions describedbelow. Resource provisioning provides dynamic procurement of computingresources and other resources that are utilized to perform tasks withinthe cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing provide costtracking as resources are utilized within the cloud computingenvironment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of theseresources. In one example, these resources may comprise applicationsoftware licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloudconsumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources.User portal provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management providescloud computing resource allocation and management such that requiredservice levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planning andfulfillment provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of, cloudcomputing resources for which a future requirement is anticipated inaccordance with an SLA.

Workloads layer 66 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping andnavigation; software development and lifecycle management; virtualclassroom education delivery; data analytics processing; transactionprocessing; and mobile desktop.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a diagram of a server 12 in cloud computingnode 10 is shown, in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 4 provides an illustration of one embodiment and doesnot imply any limitations with regard to the environments in whichdifferent embodiments may be implemented.

In the depicted embodiment, server 12 contains dynamic monitoringprogram 410, dynamic agent 430, dynamic manager 440, and dynamic guardentity 450. Server 12 may include components as depicted and describedin further detail with respect to FIG. 1.

Working within management layer 64 in FIG. 3, dynamic monitoring program410 operates to provide a dynamic boundary based approach for monitoringand metering of cloud resources. Resources may include one or more ofthe following: networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing, memory,storage, applications, virtual machines, and services. In someembodiments, dynamic monitoring program 410 may generate reports toaddress present issues to benefit users. In other embodiments, dynamicmonitoring program 410 may store information for later use.Additionally, in one embodiment, dynamic monitoring program 410configures and provisions dynamic agent 430 on cloud resources (e.g.,server, network, storage, etc.) consumed by a user for a specific cloudservice that needs to be monitored and/or metered. In some embodiments,dynamic monitoring program 410 configures and provisions a dynamic guardentity 450 for each dynamic agent 430. In general, dynamic monitoringprogram 410 may be any application or software that enables resourcesconsumed by users to be monitored and metered. In the depictedembodiment, dynamic monitoring program 410 resides on server 12. Inother embodiments, dynamic monitoring program 410, or similar programs,may reside on another server or another computing device, provided thatdynamic monitoring program 410 has access to dynamic agent 430, dynamicmanager 440, and dynamic guard entity 450 over any network.

Dynamic agent 430 operates within the network elements. In someembodiments, dynamic agent 430 collects data describing networkequipment, for example, the number of packets received or dropped in aparticular link. In the depicted embodiment, dynamic agent 430 resideson server 12. In other embodiments, dynamic agent 430, or similaragents, may reside on other computing devices accessible to dynamicmonitoring program 410.

Dynamic manager 440 operates within the application elements. In someembodiments, dynamic manager 440 uses the data collected by dynamicagent 430 to generate reports, and appropriate alarms can be raised incases of traffic congestion, link failures, etc. In the depictedembodiment, dynamic manager 440 resides on server 12. In otherembodiments, dynamic manager 440, or similar managers, may reside onother computing devices accessible to dynamic monitoring program 410.

Dynamic guard entity 450 watches for inactive users and triggers dynamicmonitoring program 410 to archive any relevant information for anyinactive user. In some embodiments, dynamic guard entity 450 assists inthe de-provisioning of the dynamic agent 430 for an inactive user. Inthe depicted embodiment, dynamic guard entity 450 resides on server 12.In other embodiments, dynamic guard entity 450, or similar guardentities, may reside on other computing devices accessible to dynamicmonitoring program 410.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a flowchart of the steps of a dynamicmonitoring program is shown, executing within the computing system ofFIG. 4, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.Dynamic monitoring program 410 operates to provide a dynamic boundarybased approach for metering of cloud resources, in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. The boundary is used to determinewhat type of information needs to be monitored and metered. The termdynamic boundary refers to a boundary that is characterized by constantchange, activity, or progress. Cloud-based environments are constantlychanging; therefore, the boundary used has to be able to change as well.

The granularity required for monitoring and metering dynamicenvironments, such as a cloud environment, can be met using dynamicmonitoring program 410. Dynamic monitoring program 410 provides agraphical user interface (GUI) to enable a cloud administrator to addnew users for each tenant to be monitored and metered, in accordancewith cloud services. Dynamic monitoring program 410 involves monitoringand metering agents that are now boundary aware and follows a top-downapproach. A top-down approach is, essentially, the breaking down of asystem to gain insight into the system's compositional sub-systems. Atop-down approach measures the transit of traffic from user request todata and back again—part of capturing the end-user-experience (EUE). Theoutcome is referred to as Real-time Application monitoring (or top-downmonitoring).

Initially, the cloud administrator configures and provisions resourcesto be ready for service use for upcoming tenants. In general,provisioning means providing or making available. In step 510, dynamicmonitoring program 410 receives an indication of use. In one embodiment,dynamic monitoring program 410 receives an indication of use from aclient computing device. In other embodiments, dynamic monitoringprogram 410 receives an indication of use from a configured resource.

In step 520, dynamic monitoring program 410 configures and provisionsagents. Once a resource is provisioned by the cloud administrator andusers of the tenant start to consume the service hosted by the tenant,dynamic monitoring program 410 triggers the provisions dynamic agents430 on cloud resources (e.g., server, network, storage, etc.) consumedby a user for a specific cloud service that needs to be monitored and/ormetered by dynamic manager 440. The same dynamic agent 430 can be usedby the dynamic managers 440 for monitoring and billing at the user levelfor every tenant. When an additional user for the same tenant is addedas a consumer to the cloud service, dynamic agent 430 is updated to keepthe counter for the new user. Each user has a counter within dynamicagent 430. When the active users for a particular resource become zero(no longer any active users), dynamic agent 430 is de-provisioned afterconcurrence from the cloud administrator. In one embodiment, activeusers for a particular resource become zero when there are no longer anyusers consuming the particular resource. In other embodiments, activeusers for a particular resource become zero when the license purchasedby the user expires.

In step 530, dynamic monitoring program 410 configures and provisionsguard entities on cloud resources. Dynamic guard entity 450 monitorscloud computing resources for inactive users and triggers dynamicmonitoring program 410 to archive relevant information for an inactiveuser. In addition to archiving relevant information, dynamic monitoringprogram 410 also de-provisions the counter for the inactive user in therespective dynamic agent 430. Dynamic monitoring program 410 alsoprovides a means to configure dynamic guard entity 450 for each dynamicagent 430 to capture the information associated with a specific user, orgroup of users, for a specific period of time. If the user, for example,switches the billing plan from a “resource usage based charge backmodel” to a “fixed cost model based on allocation,” then, as per thepolicy, dynamic guard entity 450 triggers dynamic monitoring program 410to de-provision the user's counter from dynamic agent 430.

In step 540, dynamic monitoring program 410 provides a dynamic boundary.Each dynamic agent 430 is optimized to manage multiple monitoring andmetering boundaries. In one embodiment, dynamic monitoring program 410provides a dynamic boundary for monitoring and metering that can be seton dynamic agent 430 by dynamic manager 440. In other embodiments, userscan define the boundary to be monitored and metered, which can havemultiple parameters. For example, Boundary 1 could monitor the resourcesfor tenant 1; user 1, 2, and 3; cloud resource (partition 1), i.e.,Boundary n=F(tenant, user, resource, other parameters). Users can alsocreate dynamic composite boundaries for monitoring and metering based onrequirement, i.e., Boundary n=S(Boundary 1 . . . n). The dynamiccomposite boundary has at least two parameters and those parametersidentify at least two dynamic boundaries. For example, users can createan application boundary, combining the boundaries defined for eachcomponent of the application; Boundary(businessapplication)=Set(Boundary(database)+Boundary(application server)).

The dynamic boundary can be set, and object identifiers (OIDs)provisioned, at various levels of hierarchy, i.e., resource statisticsas a whole, resources statistics as a logical partition, resourcestatistics at tenant level, and resource statistics at user level, thusenabling monitoring and metering at various levels of abstraction. OIDsare identifiers used to name an object. Structurally, an OID consists ofa node in a hierarchically-assigned namespace. In computer networking,an OID, in the context of the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP),may be the object identifier for an object in a Management InformationBase (MIB). A boundary can have many parameters, and each parameter hasa counter. In order for one or more parameters to be monitored, thecounters get incremented. The present invention can be implemented usingtraditional SNMP, Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), orany other proprietary interface. CORBA is a standard, defined by theObject Management Group (OMG), designed to facilitate the communicationof systems that are deployed on diverse platforms and enablescollaboration between systems on different operating systems,programming languages, and computing hardware. Boundaries andappropriate OIDs are augmented/deprecated by dynamic monitoring program410, depending on a new user or a dormant (inactive) user.

In decision 550, dynamic monitoring program 410 determines whether atransaction is within the boundary. To determine whether a transactionis within the boundary, dynamic monitoring program 410 uses dynamicagent 430 to intercept the transaction and evaluate the transaction todetermine if the transaction falls within dynamic agent's 430 boundary.If dynamic agent's 430 evaluation returns false, that the transactiondoes not fall within dynamic agent's 430 boundary (decision 550, nobranch), there is an indication not within boundary and the resourceusage is not monitored and metered (step 555).

In step 555, dynamic monitoring program 410 receives a response fromdynamic agent 430, indicating the transaction is not within dynamicagent's 430 boundary. If dynamic agent's 430 evaluation returns true,that the transaction does fall within dynamic agent's 430 boundary(decision 550, yes branch), the resource usage is monitored and meteredand captured and made available for usage (step 560).

In step 560, dynamic monitoring program 410 receives a response fromdynamic agent 430, indicating the transaction is within dynamic agent's430 boundary. Dynamic agent 430 captures and collects information (e.g.,statistics) and makes available for dynamic manager 440 usage. Astenants and users start consuming the resources, dynamic agent 430captures and collects the information at that level. In someembodiments, the captured statistical information is used by dynamicmanager 440 to generate reports for monitoring and management inreal-time at the user level, thus proactively addressing issues andapplying policies for providing benefits to users.

The programs described herein are identified based upon the applicationfor which they are implemented in a specific embodiment of theinvention. However, it should be appreciated that any particular programnomenclature herein is used merely for convenience, and thus theinvention should not be limited to use solely in any specificapplication identified and/or implied by such nomenclature.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles ofthe embodiment, the practical application or technical improvement overtechnologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinaryskill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for providing a dynamic boundary basedapproach for monitoring and metering, the method comprising:provisioning, by one or more processors, at least one agent to one ormore network accessible resources, wherein the at least one agent isconfigured to allow for monitoring and metering, and wherein the atleast one agent is optimized to manage the plurality of individualdynamic boundaries; provisioning, by one or more processors, at leastone entity to the one or more network accessible resources, wherein theat least one entity is configured to monitor the one or more networkaccessible resources for inactive users, and wherein the at least oneentity is further configured to trigger archival of information for aninactive user captured by the at least one agent; providing, by one ormore processors, at least one dynamic boundary for monitoring andmetering, wherein the at least one dynamic boundary follows a top-downapproach, and wherein the at least one dynamic boundary comprises aplurality of individual dynamic boundaries, and wherein the at least onedynamic boundary has at least one parameter, wherein the at least oneparameter identifies at least a user, and wherein the at least oneparameter has at least one counter for the at least one agent, andwherein the at least one dynamic boundary is a dynamic compositeboundary, wherein the dynamic composite boundary has at least twoparameters, wherein the at least two parameters identify at least twoadditional dynamic boundaries; receiving, by one or more processors,information captured by the at least one agent provisioned to the one ormore network accessible resources based on the dynamic boundary formonitoring and metering; and causing, by one or more processors, theinformation to be available for use.